Man charged with drugging and raping women he met on MySpace

by KPCC Wire Services

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SANTA ANA — A Yorba Linda man charged with drugging and raping two women he met on MySpace, and forcibly raping his 17-year-old girlfriend, is to appear in court Friday.

Jason Ara Erpinar, 20, is charged with two counts of using drugs to commit rape and one count of forcible rape, with a sentencing enhancement for sex crimes against multiple victims.

Erpinar allegedly met an 18-year-old woman on MySpace and raped her in a bathroom at a party in La Habra March 7, after incapacitating her with a drug, according to the District Attorney's office.

He is also accused of raping a 22-year-old woman in a Newport Beach hotel on March 26, 2008, after meeting her on MySpace. The woman was given a date-rape drup and woke up the following day with a cracked tooth and scraped face, according to prosecutors.

Erpinar is also charged with raping his then-girlfriend, who was 17 years old, several times between August 2006 and October 2007, according to prosecutors.

In an unrelated case, Erpinar is also charged with burglary and receiving stolen property for allegedly stealing a purse, wallet, computer equipment and video games from a friend's house after he was asked to leave the friend's party, prosecutors said.

Erpinar faces a maximum sentence of 45 years to life in prison if he is convicted on the rape charges.

He is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial hearing Friday.